Best Practices in custom software development for home services companies
Best Practices for Custom Software Development in Home Services
“There’s an app for that”—a phrase we hear all the time in every industry. Today’s consumers are ultra-connected and have come to expect specific digital intelligence from their service providers. Home services like plumbing, heating, HVAC, and appliance repair are no exception.
If you’re a business owner in this industry, you already know how helpful technology can be. But when off-the-shelf apps don’t work for you, you may need to build something from scratch. How do you choose the right developer for the job?
It starts by understanding how software development works. Knowing the right way to do things can help you compare and vet custom software development companies before you start building.
5 Best Practices All Good Software Developers Do
1. Conduct a Thorough Needs Assessment
Doing a needs assessment is about finding out what your company would like to achieve and what’s standing in the way of you getting there. It compares your current state to your desired state and focuses on the difference. For example, a flooring installation company might want to complete at least 10 jobs per month. However, their current booking process is too slow to accommodate this.
A good software developer will ask you questions that dig deep into your business processes, helping them understand which features you need from your new app. They may ask questions like:
- What are your business goals for the future?
- What is the unique value proposition you offer to clients?
- Who will be using the software—clients, staff, leadership, etc?
- How do you track job costs and project progress?
- Do your employees have a good work-life balance?
- How do you monitor the quality of your work?
- How often do you get customer referrals?
- How do you measure employee performance?
2. Have a Clear Plan for the Software Development Process
Developing software is not all about coding and interface design. Project management is a crucial part of the process. A good software development team will include a project manager who handles scheduling and costing to keep the project on track from start to finish. Most developer teams today, including Zelifcam Software, follow an agile development methodology.
Agile software development is about continuous adjustment and testing, developing the software in increments according to a flexible, iterative schedule rather than a rigid master plan. Ask your developers about their software development lifecycle to gauge their planning style.
3. Focus on User Experience (UX)
User experience is essential for home service apps because the industry is built on reputation. When your clients interact with your software, they collaborate with an extension of you. A good development team will understand this and build custom software that puts the user first. They know what difference a mobile app can make to on-the-go contractors and how an empathetic chatbot can help soothe frustrated customers.
Make sure you express your need for excellent user experience and ask potential custom software development companies how they plan to deliver it. Observing how they interact with you as a customer also gives you an indication of their ideas about end-user satisfaction.
4. Spend Significant Time on Testing
Never acquire custom software development for your home services business if it doesn’t come with quality assurance. Any developer worth their salt knows that testing and debugging make up at least 50% of a software project. We do this to ensure code quality, scalability, and data security while making your software more convenient to maintain in the future.
Ask your developer about the types of software testing they do and at what stage of the software project it happens. Performance testing and usability testing are good indicators of a team that cares about more than pure functionality.
5. Offer Ongoing Maintenance and Support
A software project doesn’t simply end once the platform goes live and the development work is done. After the main build, your developers should become advisors and technology partners you can keep in your corner as your business grows. For example, they might help you expand from general home service into appliance repair or landscaping by adding features to your app.
Here’s why continuous maintenance and software support are crucial best practices to look for:
- Ensures uninterrupted data security
- Fixes bugs before they cause problems
- Keeps software up to date with the latest programming trends
- Allows you to add and remove features as needed
- Keeps your software running smoothly as it ages
- Keeps your software compatible with new devices
Build Custom Software With Best Practices in Mind
Zelifcam Software offers custom software development for the home services industry, including mobile apps and office platforms for contractors, renovators, handymen, plumbers, and HVAC installers. Contact us today or book your discovery call to bring your software ideas to life.
